Fernando Torres admits he only became interested in football due to Japanese cartoon

Fernando Torres wonders how else people are meant to become interested in football (Picture: Reuters)

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has revealed he first became interested in football due to a Japanese cartoon.

The Spanish international wasn’t talking about Pokemon or Digimon, but the massive hit show Captain Tsubasa (us neither) and claimed the programme was the reason he began playing football as he tried to emulate Oliver, the star of the show.

‘I remember when I was a kid, we couldn’t find the signal really well on TV, but everyone in school was talking about this cartoon about football, from Japan,’ he explained.

‘It was a series called Oliver y Benji in Spain, and in Japan it was Captain Tsubasa, and these two young players started as youth team players, got into the national team, won the World Cup, and moved to Barcelona and Bayern Munich, then moved to Europe, so it was like a dream.

‘I started playing football because of this, and because my brother forced me, and I loved the cartoon. I wanted to be Oliver, because he played out on the field and Benji was the goalkeeper.’

Until Torres’ recent goalscoring spurt, Chelsea fans may have been wishing he’d followed in Benji’s footsteps instead!